Enewsletter

Enewsletter • May
15, 2013

Notes
from Vegan Outreach

While leafleting the University of Texas at El Paso, John Oberg found out that Sarah (above) has been veg since getting a booklet from Jon Camp on 3/30/11 – and now she wants to start leafleting her campus! And Anna (below) said she was so heartbroken by what she read in Even If You Like Meat that she’s never eating meat again!

Holy
Chicken!

Adopt a College
activists have been having an absolutely
amazing semester, having already
reached 883,163
students as of May 14 – with
many more reports still to enter!

We’ve been able to reach these
individuals because of the donors who stepped up and contributed
to the end-of-year matching campaign.

Even
as activists are still reaching new people every
day, we’re looking ahead to the fall semester.
The number of new students we reach depends
on how many booklets we can print and ship.

And
that depends on you!

Do you want more people to learn the truth
and to start taking action for the animals?

Do
you want to create more and more vegetarians
standing up for what’s right and providing
the animals a voice? If so:

From
“Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!”
& Jack Norris RD Blogs

Notes
from Our Members

Click on any Team
Vegan member to donate!

I really
like to leaflet Western Oregon University.
Standout conversations! One was with a young
woman who is trying to go vegan. She was into
it, enthusiastic, and really wanted information.
Also talked with a guy who eats meat but is
interested in and concerned with how the animals
are treated. It was a good conversation aimed
at getting him to take the first step.
Cobie met a man
who told her that his friend had worked on a
construction project in a slaughterhouse. The
day after the construction project started,
his friend went vegetarian: “He didn’t
like to talk about it a lot. He said that they
were brutal to the animals. He said that there
was blood dripping from the ceiling.”—Team Vegan member Nettie
Schwager, 2/18/13

Normally
I’d be disappointed with reaching
only ~800 students at the College of Charleston,
but this college has been leafleted hard every
semester. Amazing stuff is happening here –
I noticed a big difference in the number of
vegans and vegetarians since I leafleted here
five years ago. In fact, the people who told
me they were vegan outnumbered those who reported
being vegetarian. Too many good comments to
count. Heard from a student who was thrilled
they are opening up an all-vegetarian cafeteria
in 2014!—Team Vegan member Dawn
Ratcliffe, 2/12/13

Headed to
Northwestern for my day off, and
Mark Turner [above] met me there. So much snow that
my mascara ran as it melted – I looked like
Alice Cooper! We heard from TONS of vegetarians
and vegans. One student told me she had received
the booklet in the past and had gone vegetarian
as a result!—Team Vegan member Leslie
Patterson, 2/27/13

Tough weather
at the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign – my feet were the only thing
dry by the end of the day. Did hear from three
vegans and six vegetarians!—Team Vegan member Joe
Espinosa, 2/27/13

Good
take rate at CUNY Medgar Evers.
Met four vegetarians, including one who took
booklets to distribute to classmates not yet
vegetarian.—Team Vegan member Lisa
Drapkin, 2/26/13

Three-school day for Rachel and me –
Houston Community College, Rice University,
and Texas Southern University. Met one student [far right]
who had gone vegan from getting a VO booklet
in the past; now, her friend [right] wants to reduce his meat consumption. Had a long, productive
conversation with a history professor who at
first said he didn’t care about animals. By
the end, he agreed to read through the booklet.
Another woman thanked us for the information,
said she now wanted to quit eating meat.

Phenomenal day
of outreach at the University of Houston, where
Rachel and I reached nearly 4,000 students!
Great conversations. Spoke to two fraternity
members who were disturbed by the treatment
of animals; [Patrick, left, center] is going veg today, the other
[far left] will reduce consumption and wants to learn more
about veg eating. Also met John, a bio student
who want to go veg now. Rachel met a girl who
now wants to go vegan; she got a Guide.
Another student asked for a stack to show friends
and family. Also, a poli-sci student [below] read the booklet
and now wants to go veg. Met many veg folk,
which is encouraging. As usual, the booklets
were a conversation starter for many folks walking
by. Saw a multitude of others reading. I get
excited thinking about all the students we reached
and the lives we saved today.—Team Vegan member Vic
Sjodin(above with UH students), 2/27/13

The
first student at the University of Connecticut
said he got a booklet from me the day before at Eastern
Connecticut State! Delaney, Amy, and I reached
over 1,700 other students. An interesting and
productive conversation with a woman who had
gone vegan in the past but got sick. She said
she really liked talking with me because I was
very approachable and nonjudgemental. Another
student told me he received a booklet from me
last semester and went vegan!
Rained all day
at Three Rivers Community College. Talked with
Kevin, who said he and his girlfriend were just
transitioning to being vegan! One professor
read the booklet, came back out of his office,
and spoke for about 15 minutes. He said he wanted
to experiment with vegan eating with his family
for a month. He was very in tune with learning
about ending animal suffering.—Team Vegan member Karen
James, 2/27/13

Quite
a few vegetarians at Southern
Oregon University. One student is interested
in getting involved; got an AML.
University of Oregon was great, despite the
rain! Yet another vegan wants to get involved,
also got an AML.—Team Vegan member Steve
Erlsten, 2/28/13

At
Chabot College, Jessica met a
lot of vegetarians. She also leafleted a young
woman who said she wanted to go veg – perfect
timing!—Team Vegan member Brian
Grupe, 2/11/13

Epic,
record day at the University of Iowa
with my wonder of a volunteer, Patti. A long,
fun day chasing [Team Vegan members] Darina
and Jon’s record at this very receptive
school. We each met tons of vegetarians, vegans,
and I even met a dude named Carl who wants to
get involved. Another student informed Patti
that she didn’t need a booklet because slaughterhouses
prompted her to go vegetarian two days ago!
I handed a booklet to one guy, Malcolm, who
walked a few yards then came back my way and
said, “Man, I don’t need this because I’m
vegan.” Turns out he’s been vegan for a
month because of the cruelty done to animals!
It’s definitely encouraging for new veg people
to see us out there, promoting a message that
they’ve just recently begun to embrace themselves.
I leafleted one
guy who walked up to a friend and they began
talking. I could tell both were definitely opposed
to cruelty, so I chimed in and Guided
them each. “Wow, before you gave me that,
I had no clue it was so bad for the chickens;
I only thought it was bad for the pigs and cows.”
Victory!—Team Vegan member John
Oberg(leafleting UI below), 2/25/13

At
Salisbury University, a young
woman came up and gave me a big hug for being
there. And at the University of Maryland Eastern
Shore, a young woman told me I had pretty eyes.
I like this job!
Dave and I saturated
Anne Arundel Community College, with good conversations.
One athlete was concerned about protein; I Guided
him, and told him he could read more in detail
about protein at VeganHealth.org.
I told him that I liked Jack’s
approach to nutrition because he just looks
at what the science says about a vegan diet,
and responds in an impartial manner, even telling
vegans findings that aren’t always flattering
to veganism. By doing this, you know that the
good things he reports are really good. This
seemed to be exactly what this guy wanted / needed
to hear – that there’s a credible source out
there.
This whole issue
of trust reminded me of an interaction I had
last week. I did an online Q&A, and a fellow
vegan criticized me for admitting that before
being a healthy vegan, I was a healthy meat eater.
I guess I was supposed to say that I was in
the hospital, on my last breath, and then I
found veganism, and I’ll now live to be 150
years old (minimum). But I think that when we
just speak honestly, more people will hear us
out. We’ve got a compelling enough case that
we don’t need to exaggerate the truth. We’re
trying to have a long and extended dialogue
with society, and the thoughtful individuals
we’re trying to convince aren’t dupes. When
we concede to one point, the other will often
concede to another point, and will then give
us more attention.—Team Vegan member Jon
Camp, 2/27/13

Vegan
Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
dedicated to reducing the suffering of
farmed animals by promoting informed,
ethical eating.